Ha, today I downloaded "SD Formatter 4.0". Okay there is a newer 5.0 version but that one did not work with my old OS (WIN XP 32Bit). The formatter still did not let me choose the cluster size, but it recognized my 16GB SD-card (that had 8k clusters) and formatted it fine with FAT32. When formatting was done, it informed me, that it had used 32k clusters...

So theoretically I should no longer have a 24MB limit for PDM files, but a 96MB limit (enough for most/all sound files)...?!? And if 24MB is enough for soundfiles of a length of up to 8-10 minutes, then 96MB should be enough for soundfiles of a length of up to 32-40 minutes...!?!

Copied the PDM files onto the SD-card again, put the SD-card into the AVG-cart, the AVG-cart. into the A8 and loaded the usual stuff (SIDE XEX loader, then PDM player) and... YES ! The 26MB, 27MB and 30MB soundfiles playback without any problems now, great!

But if anyone knows of an SD-card formatter that works under WIN XP (32 Bit) and lets me freely choose the cluster size, I am all ears...

Ha, today I downloaded "SD Formatter 4.0". Okay there is a newer 5.0 version but that one did not work with my old OS (WIN XP 32Bit). The formatter still did not let me choose the cluster size, but it recognized my 16GB SD-card (that had 8k clusters) and formatted it fine with FAT32. When formatting was done, it informed me, that it had used 32k clusters...

So theoretically I should no longer have a 24MB limit for PDM files, but a 96MB limit (enough for most/all sound files)...?!? And if 24MB is enough for soundfiles of a length of up to 8-10 minutes, then 96MB should be enough for soundfiles of a length of up to 32-40 minutes...!?!

Copied the PDM files onto the SD-card again, put the SD-card into the AVG-cart, the AVG-cart. into the A8 and loaded the usual stuff (SIDE XEX loader, then PDM player) and... YES ! The 26MB, 27MB and 30MB soundfiles playback without any problems now, great!

But if anyone knows of an SD-card formatter that works under WIN XP (32 Bit) and lets me freely choose the cluster size, I am all ears...

It does install, but refuse to run on my currently updated XP machine. It appears that they did this on purpose.

Shame on them.

I *WILL* keep my eyes open for such a tool.

Edit: MiniTool is coming to mind, but I am having a hard time finding it without MALWARE attached.

So I'm trying to figure this stuff out for the first time, the fujiconvert page seems pretty straight forward, but I'm still confused about the output media types. Is Atarimax output only for the Atarimax 1Mb & 8Mb carts? Or will this work with MyIDE 2 FAT32? Or, alternatively, does the IDE output media work with MyIDE 2 on the HDD side of things? Maybe since I use FJC's SpartaDOS driver for MyIDE 2 I can use the IDE file versions that way? or is this for only SiDE 2 and IDE 2.0?

I've got ONE THE!CART, ONE Atarima 8Mb (doesn't seem like a lot of room for much here) and I have MyIDE 2 with plenty of room on an 8GB CF card. I really don't want to use my only THE!CART to flash just one song file too, and have to reflash for every file, which is apparently the only way. I just got done flashing it for a bunch of software and would rather not go through that again. So, am I just SOL unless I want to reflash my THE!CART for every song file made for it? The best option is MyIDE 2 for me, but from what I can gather, this still isn't supported? Only SIDE or IDE + 2.0?

Or, alternatively, does the IDE output media work with MyIDE 2 on the HDD side of things? Maybe since I use FJC's SpartaDOS driver for MyIDE 2 I can use the IDE file versions that way? or is this for only SiDE 2 and IDE 2.0?

The IDE files are intended to be used with my PDM Player, which doesn't use drivers of any kind since it must communicate directly with the hardware registers for reasons of speed. The downside to this is that you need a different version of the player for each IDE host adapter. I already released versions for U1MB/SIDE and XEL-CF (1088XEL), but haven't gotten around to making any others yet. Theoretically, the player could work with pretty much any IDE or even SCSI HDD available, given sufficient motivation to actually produce the builds.

I've got ONE THE!CART, ONE Atarima 8Mb (doesn't seem like a lot of room for much here) and I have MyIDE 2 with plenty of room on an 8GB CF card. I really don't want to use my only THE!CART to flash just one song file too, and have to reflash for every file, which is apparently the only way. I just got done flashing it for a bunch of software and would rather not go through that again. So, am I just SOL unless I want to reflash my THE!CART for every song file made for it? The best option is MyIDE 2 for me, but from what I can gather, this still isn't supported? Only SIDE or IDE + 2.0?

There's no player for IDE Plus or MYIDE yet, so unless you have U1MB/SIDE (or a 1088XEL), you'll need to flash THE!CART.

Thanks for the info...I guess I wait on this stuff then...for another build for MyIDE 2 or maybe down the line with SIDE/U1MB...not going to bother constantly reflashing THE!CART for one item at a time, and have to do full reflashes when finished for the normal stuff I want on it. It's just not worth the trouble to me... I MUCH appreciate the reponse JFC! At least it's cleared up for me.

Looks like I'll just have to check it out in an emulator...eventually, maybe...

Thanks for the info...I guess I wait on this stuff then...for another build for MyIDE 2 or maybe down the line with SIDE/U1MB...not going to bother constantly reflashing THE!CART for one item at a time, and have to do full reflashes when finished for the normal stuff I want on it. It's just not worth the trouble to me... I MUCH appreciate the reponse JFC! At least it's cleared up for me.

Looks like I'll just have to check it out in an emulator...eventually, maybe...

the SIDE XEX loader (as a CAR file) is required to be loaded first, then the PDM player can be loaded with it. The PDM player works on UNO cart, SIDE/SIDE-2 cart and AVG cart and plays the 8Bit mono sounds (converted with FujiConvert and option set to IDE-player Flashjazzcat) directly from the SD card. The FJC PDM player supports up to 3072 clusters, if your SD-card is formatted with 8k clusters, then sounds with up to 24MB can be played back, if it is formatted with 16k clusters, then sounds with up to 48MB can be played back and if it is formatted with the maximum (?) 32k clusters, then sounds with up to 96MB can be played back with it.

Playback is currently only mono and there is no option yet to pause or cancel playback (return to the menu), but nevertheless playing Megabyte long sounds in 8Bit resolution and full length on a 64k A8 is great ! My 16GB SD-card is filled with approx. 500 converted sounds and I am currently listening to them and writing down which sounds do require a better (with resampling effort = high or ultra) or louder (with gain = 1.5 or 2) conversion with FujiConvert, since I converted them as fast as possible (with resampling effort= none) in the first go...